Discover Planet Earth Tomorrow!

For anyone who has flown lately, you can empathize with the long waits at most airports. Atlanta, GA, was particularly crowded a few weeks ago.

Yet, I hardly noticed the crowds, lines, etc. Before I left for my long weekend in Atlanta, I downloaded Discovery Atlas China, Australia, Brazil, and Italy. I had seen some of the episodes when they aired, but really missed more than I caught. I have owned my iPod for over a year, yet this was the first time I had ever downloaded videos. I was so impressed with the quality of the picture and, of course, the films’ content.

The Discovery Atlas series is far superior to similar programs that have aired over the past few years. As a social studies teacher, I am tremendously impressed with the holistic perspective addressed by the series creators. The accompanying resources housed on unitedstreaming as well as those on the wider web are geared for students of all ages (including adults).

Part of my reason for downloading these episodes was to get myself excited for the eleven-part series, Discovery Atlas Planet Earth, premiering tomorrow, March 25, 2007.

On March 25, 2007 The Discovery Channel will launch PLANET EARTH,
a first-of-its-kind look at the world’s most magnificent and compelling
locations. The 11-part series includes never-before-seen animal
behaviors, remote regions captured by for the first time, and
unprecedented high definition production techniques.

In conjunction with the premiere of PLANET EARTH, The Nature Conservancy will launch new in-depth web content on www.nature.org,
aimed at educating visitors about the urgent threats facing the places
featured in the program and what they can do to help out. There will
be mutual links with www.planet-earth.com
to provide active consumers with multiple areas to participate in
environmental activities through fun, interactive and educational
features.

During the U.S. premiere on Sunday, March 25,
viewers can take an online tour that will be synchronized to the show,
test themselves on trivia about the animals and environments seen on
air, chat with other viewers during the show and ask questions of M.
Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy.

Challenge your students to become naturalists by creating their own
Digital Scrapbook. Download the attached ppt template and customize it
for your lesson/class! Download Rainforest.zip
(This is a Zipped file – be sure to follow prompts when downloading it
onto your computer. You will need to unzip all of the attachments
(videos, images, ppt, and sound file and place them in a folder on your
computer).Finally, you and your class can can participate in a live
chat with series producers on Monday, March 26, the day after PLANET
EARTH premieres, to learn more about the producer’s filming experiences
– check out www.planet-earth.com for more information!

Here is a summary of the three episodes that will air tomorrow night. The interactive event starts with the 9:00 PM episode. You can check listings for the other episodes on the episode index.

POLE TO POLEAirs Sunday, March 25, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
PLANET EARTH’s premiere episode, "Pole to Pole," ties the series
together with a fresh understanding of how life in every nook and
cranny of the globe is connected — from the highest mountains and
darkest caves; shallowest water and deepest oceans; ice-covered lands
and great plains; untamed jungles and giant forests; to freshwater and
the harshest deserts. The sunward tilt of Earth’s orbit dictates all
our lives, creating the seasons that trigger one of the greatest
spectacles in the world — the mass migration of animals. It’s a unique
view of the majesty of our planet and the amazing creatures that live
here.

MOUNTAINSAirs Sunday, March 25, at 9 p.m. ET/PT
This episode tours the mightiest of mountain ranges and introduces a
few of its extreme animal mountaineers — the mountain lion, snow
leopard and puma, all rarely filmed creatures. CGI time-lapse footage
brings the mysterious geological history of mountains to life, while
flying alongside bar-headed geese provides a spectacular view of the
Himalayas.

DEEP OCEANAirs Sunday, March 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT
The ocean is by far the largest habitat on our planet and it remains
almost entirely unexplored. This episode scans the ocean’s vast surface
and trolls its depths, revealing daytime hunters and night feeders,
from dolphins to manta rays, and life among hot vents and underwater
massifs, following the energy source between oceanic white tips,
myctopids, tuna, whale sharks and petrels.

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One Comment;

Thanks for the plug Jennifer! I hope that you enjoyed the first three episodes as much as I did. I’m excited to see the next set in the series this Sunday. I am interested to read your comments on the show.